Leo Valdez
"Yeah, join you. Right. Until you get bored of me and turn me into a Leosicle? Look Lady, nobody messes with ''my dragon and gets away with it. I can't believe I thought you were hot."'' – Leo to the Goddess Khione '''Leo Valdez is one of the main protagonists in The Heroes of Olympus series and one of the seven heroes of the Prophecy of Seven. He is a Greek demigod, the son of Hephaestus and Esperanza Valdez. He is the Descendant of Legendary war general Symeon Saphronia. History Leo was born in Houston, Texas to mechanic Esperanza Valdez. When he was little, he had a babysitter named Tia Callida, whom later was discovered to be Hera in disguise. She was watching Leo because she knew of his destiny as one of the seven in the prophecy. She tried to "kill" him by putting him in an active fireplace and by letting him play with knives. She also tried to make him poke a rattlesnake, which he refused to do. This was done to help train Leo to be strong at a young age. He once drew a picture of a flying boat with a bronze dragon head as the masthead in crayon at the age of five and just as Leo was going to sign his name on the picture, it was blown away by the wind. Tia convinced him to use his abilities to start a fire to "warm these old bones," and he ended up burning his fingerprints into the table. At the age of eight, Leo was visited by Gaea, the Earth goddess, whom intended to break his spirit, after being notified by Medea that he would have a part to play in her downfall. Horrified, Leo tried to use his pyrokinetic abilities as defense to save his mother and himself, but Gaea manipulated the fire, burning the mechanic shop. His mom died in the fire, and his Aunt Rosa turned his remaining family against him, thus forcing him to be sent to several foster homes. The death of his mother haunted Leo for years. The emotional strain caused him to run away from multiple foster homes. After running away for the sixth time, Leo was sent to the Wilderness School, where he met Piper McLean, who unbeknownst to him, was a daughter of Aphrodite. When Hera switched Percy Jackson and Jason Grace, she manipulated the Mist so Leo would think Jason was his best friend, although they became real friends later on. He is said to be the only living son of Hephaestus that is able to generate fire. Personality Leo is easygoing, upbeat, energetic, funny, flirty and loves to tell jokes, even if they aren't funny. Leo is genuinely very intelligent and honest, and cares about his friends and family. He sometimes doesn't think before reacting and he enjoys pulling pranks on people, especially those who he doesn't like. Despite his jokey attitude, Leo is emotionally scarred from the death of his mother and is crushed by guilt as he indirectly caused her death. He hides a hurt and angry demeanour with humour. Leo has been shown to have a serious side, which happens when he is angered by someone or when the situation calls for it. He is also seen building small bits of machinery and equipment and is very skilled and serious about his work. He is also known to frequently fall in love with any beautiful girl as long as she is completely out of his league, such as in the case of Khione and Thalia. For example when Thalia, Jason and Leo were in the cave alone, Leo asked Thalia if her no-dating policy was seasonal, but she ignored him. Khione herself being a snow goddess, hates Leo as she can sense the fire within him and takes his compliments (Leo once called her hot) as insults. It is possible that this characteristic comes from his father, Hephaestus. he starts to let go of the pain of his mother's death and learns that his pyrokinesis is a gift and tool, not a curse. He also decides to stop running from his past and he starts opening up to his friends more. After Leo visiting Calypso the first time, Leo became more steady and yet heartbroken, but he still made jokes frequently. Fatal Flaw While Leo's fatal flaw has not been revealed, he shows feelings of inferiority - being unwanted or not trusted, the one no one wanted. Appearance Leo is described by Jason to look like a "a Latino Santa's elf," with curly black hair, Light orange eyes, pointy ears, a cheerful, elf-like face, normally with a mischievous smile on his face, and being of average height with a slim build. He is 5'8''. His most notable trait is that he has a look in his eyes that makes him look like he has taken much more caffeine then the normal limit; this could be linked to his ADHD, although he is described as being even more ADHD than other demigods. (Leo Valdez/Gallery) Abilities and Tools General Abilities * '''ADHD': Like most demigods, Leo possesses inborn supernatural battle reflexes and senses that he uses to analyze the fighting style of his opponent. According to Annabeth, however, Leo is seriously ADHD even for a demigod. * Dyslexia: His brain is hard-wired for reading Ancient Greek instead of modern languages. * Morse Code: Leo's mother taught him Morse code, a skill he has retained, and he was therefore able to understand Festus' last wish. Leo and Annabeth are the only known demigods to know Morse code. * Trilingual: Leo can speak Spanish, Greek, and English fluently, having learned both English and Spanish from his mother as a child, and knowing Greek naturally because of being a demigod. Demigod Abilities * Fighting skills: Despite receiving no known formal combat training, during the battle at the Wolf House in The Lost Hero, Leo displayed considerable combat skills by using two silver-tipped blacksmith's hammers to "smash any monsters that got in his way." * Technokinesis: He has amazing mechanical abilities (even for a child of Hephaestus); he can manipulate a megaphone to say "The cow says moo" in a low voice like Darth Vader's and build a working helicopter out of pipe cleaners. He was able to fix the mechanical dragon Festus in one night, even though the rest of the Hephaestus cabin thought it was beyond repair and had to be destroyed. He even added wings to the dragon so it could fly. ** Machine Aptitude: Leo can understand and sense machinery and has the ability to expertly operate machines he has had no prior experience with. He can also communicate with machines such as Festus. ** Machine Expertise: Because Leo is a demigod child of Hephaestus, he can instinctively fly or drive any mechanical vehicle expertly, including cars, trains, or helicopters. ** Machine Sensitivity: He can sense faults in metal ore and identify machinery type and use by touch. ** Trap Detection: Leo can also sense traps, in particular mechanical traps, shown when he saw the hidden trap meant to catch Festus, and when he knew where all the defense mechanisms were in Midas's yard and disarmed them remotely. * Pyrokinesis: He is the first demigod child of Hephaestus in hundreds of years to master the ability of pyrokinesis, the ability to generate and control fire. At low-level ability would probably be moving a candle back and forth; if better, maybe putting out the flame with his mind or making it relight. Pyrokinesis is one of the more practiced skills like telekinesis. It is too, for warming people up or setting objects aflame. His pyrokinesis is supposedly a curse, but he is determined to interpret it as a gift. His pyrokinetic abilities can go as far as to shoot white hot flames high in the air that could burn through a metal chain link. He was able to easily keep the upper hand against the snow goddess Khione for an extended period of time forcing her to go on the defensive, eventually forcing her to flee. An impressive feat given that fighting a god/goddess is "suicide," this is made even more impressive by the way Leo was going to completely overpower Khione and this could show Leo's power is comparable to that of a child of the Big Three. However, sometimes he has trouble controlling his pyrokinesis when he gets excited or scared, beginning to heat up and smoke. He can throw fireballs/fire bolts, fire blasts and (if he concentrates hard enough), columns of fire. ** Superheated Fire: Leo can increase the heat of his fire (to the point that it becomes white-hot), and can also create walls of flame. This is the main defensive use of his powers. ** Fire Immunity: He discovers he is fireproof (he can even survive a kerosene barrel explosion without feeling any pain, unlike Jason who feels the pain of heat but is unharmed by lightning). For example, when he was a small baby, Hera (in the form of Tia Callida, his "insane" babysitter) puts him in a blazing fireplace and he is completely comfortable. However, when he was attacked by Festus' firebreath, it did sting him slightly. Many other things like this follow. ** Heat Sensitivity: He can sense heat, flames, and metals, even allow him to walk through the forest at Camp half Blood at night, in the form of thermal vision. Magical Items * Magical Toolbelt: He has a magical tool belt that he uses constantly. He can pull simple tools from the belt, as well as food, medical supplies, and breath mints. The belt is seemingly endless and he doesn't know where it all comes from. However, larger items, especially things that don't have to do with mechanics, require the belt to recharge or "cool down." It is also known that big items, such as chain-saws, or magic items, like Jason's sword, Ivlivs, cannot be pulled out of the belt. * His primary weapon is his 3-pound Club Hammer, which he summons from his tool belt from time to time. * Festus the Bronze Dragon was repaired and managed by Leo after his discovery of Bunker 9, used in the American Civil war as the Hephaestus bunker. He supported Leo, Jason, and Piper, all the way to Midas's mansion, where he was destroyed by lasers to save Leo, Piper, and Jason. He was later used as the figurehead of the Argo II. * Holographic Scroll- Leo's own invention, used in Season 4'' to alert Camp Jupiter, that the ''Argo II ''is coming. * Buford- Leo's magical three legged table. * Archimedes Sphere: Leo found it in Archimedes' workshop and repaired it. After that he was upgrading the sphere an made several copies. He can use it in different ways. Relationships: '''Love Interests:' Calypso: "I'm coming back for you, Calypso, I swear it on the River Styx."–Leo as he leaves Ogygia Leo lands on Calypso's island, as the gods had not seen to Percy's wish of setting her free from Ogygia, her cursed home. Although Leo and Calypso do not get along very well when they first meet, they share a kiss just before Leo leaves. Leaving Ogygia, Leo doubts that he really is "in love with an immortal girl" and that Calypso is in love with him. He then swears upon the River Styx that he will come back for Calypso. he returns to Ogygia and takes Calypso back into the mortal world. Thalia Grace "ah, we were absolutely destined to meet your hot sister."–Leo talking to Jason about Thalia When Leo meets Thalia, Jason's sister, he falls in love with her. Leo hits on her, but she showed no signs of even acknowledging him. Leo took this as her not wanting to show how impressed with him she was, even though she was simply ignoring him. When him and Jason explained what had happened on their quest so far, he played up his own abilities. He also asked Thalia if the "Not Dating" rule all the Hunters of Artemis had to swear to was always or just a seasonal thing. Thalia just looked at him like he had evolved from pond scum, which only made Leo like her more. Khione "Lady, nobody messes with my dragon and gets away with it. I can’t believe I thought you were hot."–Leo to Khione When first meeting Khione, Leo states he acted like a total fool, but couldn't help it. While Jason and Piper where upstairs talking to Boreas, Leo had his clothes cleaned, his hair brushed, and took a pack of breath mints from his toolbelt in hopes of impressing her, but ultimately failed. When meeting Khione again at the Wolf House, Khoine tried to use Leo's attraction to her against him. Saying that he could join her and become her champion, instead of following the path the Fates had given him. Leo on the other hand rejects her because of what she had done to Festus and comments that he can't believe he thought she was hot, something Khione, the snow goddess, takes great offense to. Echo: "Leo was determined never to forget Echo’s face. She deserved at least one person who saw her and knew how good she was. Leo closed his eyes, but the memory of her smile was already fading."–Leo leaving Echo Echo is a nymph that Leo met while on an island in the Great Salt Lake. While Leo originally teases her, as she is forced to repeat the last thing she hears, he stops after Hazel Levesque tells him to stop (as well as Echo turning his words against him). After meeting Narcissus and seeing how absorbed he is in himself, as well as all the nymphs loving him for his looks, he realizes that Echo is the only one that truly loves him for him and wants to save him. Echo helps Leo in his plan to steal a metal shield Narcissus is using as a mirror and aids in Leo's escape. While running away, she plans to fight off the nymphs that are after them. Leo sees her true face for only a minute and offers to bring her with them, but she refuses as she still loves Narcissus. Friends: Piper McLean Piper and Leo have been friends for a long time, meeting at the Wilderness School. Piper trusts him enough to tell him the truth about her father Tristan McLean, who is a famous movie star. Leo knows enough about her to know that she doesn't like when people fight her battles for her. When he was given fake memories by the Mist about Jason Grace, he had feelings of become a third wheel to Jason and Piper, something that begins to happen again when Jason and Piper start getting close all over again. Despite Piper being very beautiful, Leo never hits on her or asks her out, acting more like a brother who looks out for her. Piper gives him a sisterly kiss on the cheek after he returns safe and sound from Camp Fish-Blood, showing that she really does care for him, even if the two tease each other. Jason Grace Despite their time at the Wilderness School being a trick from the mist, Leo still considers himself Jason'sfriend. He even volunteers to go on a quest with him and goes to repair the Bronze Dragon to give them a means of transportation. Despite Leo and Jason being good friends, Leo feels jealous of Jason. People look at Jason and respect him for being the son of Zeus (really Jupiter), while he only sees himself as the lowly mechanic. He also feels left out as Jason and Piper start to reform their relationship. The only time he doesn't feel jealous of Jason is when Thalia talks to Jason about his past and how Hera had taken him away from their mother. Leo remembers that while his own life wasn't that good, his own mother wasn't possessive of Hephaestus and only wanted Leo to know him. Percy Jackson Percy saw images and visions of Leo during The Son of Neptune. They're not particularly close and haven't gotten to know each other well yet, as Percy was initially mad at him for shooting on Camp Jupiter. When Percy was mad at him, Leo was scared as he recognized the look as it reminded him of the times Jason summoned lightning. The two have also shown the same sense of sarcasm and at some times, stupidity. At the end of The Mark of Athena he is filled with guilt because he thinks opening Nemesis's fortune cookie was the reason Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, in spite of Hazel and Nico's objections. Leo then vows to do whatever it takes to rescue Percy and Annabeth from Tartarus, despite thinking someone would have to stay in there to close the Doors of Death from both sides. In The Blood of Olympus Leo takes to jokingly call Percy Aquaman, much to the latter's annoyance. Annabeth Chase Leo cares for Annabeth, but has been afraid of her ever since they first met at the Grand Canyon. The two have shown a bond through engineering and machinery. Aside from Leo, Annabeth is the only one who can operate the engine room. When he arrived at the Pantheon, Leo thought about how Annabeth would react to seeing it ("If Annabeth were here, she would've spent the whole day talking about it."). He is filled with guilt when she and Percy fall into Tartarus, feeling he is responsible. Hazel Levesque Hazel and Leo first meet in The Mark of Athena, but are very awkward around each other. Leo always feels like Hazel is watching him for some reason, but doesn't know why. He is also confused when she asks him if his name is Sammy, which it isn't. He also tries to avoid her to a small degree as he knows that Frank is dating her, but the two seem to end up together (sometimes with or without Frank). However, the two keep finding themselves in awkward situations that leads to a fight between Hazel and Frank. While riding across the Great Salt Lake on Arion to get the Celestial Bronze needed to fix the Argo II, Leo holds Hazel's waist, noting that his heart is racing in doing this. He dismisses it, claiming it to be because of the speed they were going. Later, he calls her pretty. Their connection to each other is slightly cleared up when Hazel uses her ability to show people the past to show Leo who Sammy was. During this flashback, it is shown that Sammy is Leo's great-grandfather and that he asked Leo to look after Hazel for him. Despite learning this information, the two are still somewhat skittish of each other. As of The House of Hades, the pair are now good friends as Leo is interested in Calypso. Frank Zhang Leo and Frank have a strained relationship. Frank is uneasy about Leo at first because of his similarity to Hazel's former love, Sammy. The two have contrasting personalities, Frank being far more serious and Leo's lack of control of what he says and his tendency to tease Frank. However, the two eventually become good friends when Frank reveals his weakness to Leo, and Leo later figures out how to help him. They have more of an understanding now, especially since Leo no longer has feelings for Hazel. Nico di Angelo Before meeting him, Leo voices his doubts about Nico's loyalties, infuriating Hazel. Later on, after meeting him, Leo considers Nico creepy and intimidating, unlike Hazel. They have not gotten to know each other yet, but seem to be on good terms so far, as when Leo is overwhelmed with guilt about not saving Percy and Annabeth, Nico comforts him and assures him that they are alive. Nico seems annoyed with Leo's frustration about constantly rebuilding the masts, saying that they don't grow on trees. Nico corrects him by calmly pointing out that they are made from trees. Leo is very much intimidated by the son of Hades, and never dares to tease him to his face. Nico, being far more serious, is frequently annoyed by Leo's sense of humor. However, after Leo returns from Calypso's island, Nico is glad to see him, and shakes his hand. when Hades reveals to Nico that one of the Seven is destined to die, the idea of any of them (including Leo) dying made him feel empty—like Nico was back in the dark Giants' Bronze Jar. Nico is quite saddened by Leo's death (having actually felt it happen), does his best to comfort Hazel about it, and prays to his father for guidance. Interestingly, some things that Nico and Leo have in common, is that they both fluently speak a Romance language (Italian and Spanish respectively), they have both witnessed their mothers' deaths at the hand of a deity (Zeus and Gaea respectively), and they have both run away from places they used to call home (Camp Half-Blood and multiple foster homes respectively). Family: Esperanza Valdez Leo is shown to love his mother very much. Esperanza is very protective and caring of him. The two had a very strong relationship and Leo was devastated when his mother died. He blames himself for her death, and for that reason, didn't use fire again until he needed to in order to help his cabin. Sammy Valdez "She said Hazel’s great danger would not happen in my lifetime. But I promised I would be there for her. You will have to tell her I’m sorry, Leo. Help her if you can."–Sammy talking to a baby Leo Leo has met his great-grandfather, but was not old enough to remember. The name 'Sammy' sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't place who it was. After looking at Hazel's past, the memories showed a moment where an old Sammy was talking to a baby Leo. Leo and Sammy have very similar personalities and appearances, which is shown when Hazel believes Leo to be Sammy. Leo however feels that he is only an imitation of Sammy after seeing Sammy's quick wit and how charming he was with the girls, unlike himself. Hephaestus When Leo and Hephaestus first meet, it began with Leo telling him off for disappearing from his life. Hephaestus laughs at this, saying Leo reminds him of Esperanza, whom he misses quite a bit. Hephaestus later reveals that he has been watching Leo, and that he is very proud of him. He also admits that he is not very good with people, which is why he doesn't meet with his children often. When Festus is destroyed, Hephaestus takes his head to Bunker 9 upon Leo's request. they meet again, and courageously fight the Giants side by side. Aunt Rosa Leo hates his Aunt Rosa. After Leo's mom died, she blamed Leo for the death, calling him a devil. She turned the entire family against him, leaving him with no where to go. Because of her refusal to take him in, Leo was sent to a foster home, and his life of running away began. When Leo meets Nemesis he sees her in the form of Aunt Rosa, meaning she is the person he wants revenge from most. Nyssa hough not much is shown of Nyssa, Leo's first impression of her is that she is very serious. This is because of the Curse of Cabin 9. She is the one who explains the curse to him, and she congratulates him when he returns from his quest. She also helped him work on the Argo II, along with the rest of the Hephaestus cabin. Trivia * He is currently the only known living son of Hephaestus who has been given the gift of Pyrokinesis. The previous one is Thomas Faynor known for having caused the Great Fire of London in 1666. ** This is also the year of the fire horse in eastern Zodiac. * Because of his pointy ears and his friend Jason Grace calling his dad Vulcan instead of Hephaestus, Leo claims that he doesn't even like Star Trek, a reference to Spock, one of the main characters of Star Trek who is a Vulcan. * He is the only one of the seven to not have lived in California at any point in life. * The name Leo is a one of the twelve zodiac signs which has fire as it's element. * In Latin, Leo means "Lion". * In Teutonic, Leo means "Bold to his people". * Leo, Nico di Angelo, Frank Zhang, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Hylla Ramírez-Arellano, Annabeth Chase, and Hazel Levesque are the only known demigods that can speak two or more languages (that has nothing to do with them being a half-blood), as he, Reyna and Hylla can speak Spanish, he and Annabeth speak Morse Code, Nico can speak Italian, Hazel can speak Louisiana French, and Frank can speak Canadian French, along with "a little" Chinese. * Leo looks almost exactly like Sammy Valdez, Hazel's old friend from the 1940's, ** This is because Sammy is his great-grandfather, as stated in The Mark of Athena. It could also be a possibility that Leo is Sammy's doppelganger. * While Leo is a son of Hephaestus, he shares many traits with the children of Hermes, including elvish ears, a mischievous smile, and a love for practical jokes. * It is said by Annabeth that even by demigod standards, Leo is seriously ADHD. * Leo is the only known demigod who can go toe-to-toe with Khione and not freeze to death. * Leo Valdez and the Quest for Buford is in his point of view. * Leo's is the only known case of a demigod who met and befriended another demigod before either knew they were demigods. * Leo once reprogrammed all the electronic billboards in Times Square to read "ALL DA LADIES LUV LEO!" * It is stated in The Mark of Athena that Leo gets car sick. * Leo has a cousin named Raphael and an aunt named Rosa, both of whom Leo doesn't like very much. * In The Mark of Athena, Leo says "One basketball to rule them all". This is a pun on Lord Of The Rings, "One ring to rule them all". * Leo's least favorite line in the prophecy is "To storm or fire the world must fall". * He and Hazel Levesque are the only ones out of the Seven that have died and been resurrected. (Although Jason Grace might also qualify as resurrected, as Jason's soul was charmspeaked to return to his body by Piper McLean in The Lost Hero). * His favorite color is red. * Leo is the second known child of Hephaestus to die in an explosion. The first one was Charles Beckendorf. * Leo is the only male demigod aboard the ''Argo II ''who wasn't praetor of the Twelfth Legion. * Leo is the only demigod that had ran away seven times from foster homes. * Leo is the only character who appears in the very first and the very last scenes of ''The Heroes of Olympus''series.